In article <EGyw1y.C5r at liverpool.ac.uk> Mr. W.Y. Chan,
wahchan at liverpool.ac.uk writes:
>Please dont take this as a criticism, is it so important to fill your
>cabinet with a trophy to show how great you are? The Nobel Peace Prize
>to many people is nothing more than an empty gesture created and awarded
>by beaurocrat in the West to individuals they can used for their
>political advantages. It is true there are were obstacles women once had
to face
>when persuing a career in science but certainly in my life time there has
>never been any objection or discrimination for men and women in the
science
>field.
I have to agree with Cyndy. And I would like to add a few more
examples. Have you ever been mistaken for a secretary when you choose to
dress for a talk? Have you ever had to put up with someone staring at
your chest instead of your face when discussing science? Or perhaps I
should relocate that glance to an appropriate part of the male anatomy?
Have you ever been told that dressing nicely for a talk was a
"distraction"?
Women are still paid less in science for faculty positions even
though we are close to equity in being hired. We are given less space in
start up deals, and have problems achieving tenure later on usually due
to a perceived lack of dedication (i.e. we are moms). And take a good
look around and count the number of female department chairs. We may be
able to at least play in the game and have our own bathroom facilities,
but we still don't get be captain of the team very often. But please
don't feel too bad. Many female faculty members also don't feel that
there is discrimination, so they don't bother to mentor young faculty
members or students for women's issues. So this condition will of course
stay the same for many years to come. It will be interesting to see how
the next generation performs in achieving equity. Of course those
results won't be felt for another 10-20 years, but since we've waited
this long....
Helen McBride
University of Utah
Grad Student
Dept. of Onc. Sci.
helen.mcbride at genetics.utah.edu
"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins, which of the two has
the grander view?" Victor Hugo